John Lawrence Froggatt (born 13 December 1945) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, he scored 45 goals in 215 league games in seven seasons in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He began his career at Notts County in 1963, and later played for Ilkeston Town and Buxton, before coming to prominence with

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

between 1969 and 1974. After finishing as

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

runners-up in 1971–72, they won the league title in 1972–73 and 1973–74. In August 1974, he was signed by Colchester United for a £6,000 fee. Crowned the club's player of the year in 1975, he helped the club to win promotion out of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1976–77. He was signed by

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

for £10,000 in February 1978, before being sold on to Northampton Town for £8,000 seven months later. He returned to Boston United the following year, and managed the club in three Alliance Premier League campaigns between 1981 and 1984. He later spent two years in charge at Ilkeston Town.

Playing career

Early career

Froggatt played for non-League East Kirkby Colliery, before joining Notts County in 1963. He had previously had trials with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. He made his first-team debut against Bristol Rovers and played four league games during the

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

season of 1963–64 and subsequent

campaign in 1964–65. He dropped out of the

to work as a painter and decorator and play part-time for Ilkeston Town and Buxton in the Midland League, before joining

side

in 1969 for a £500 fee. They finished third, two points short of the title, in 1969–70; fourth in 1970–71; second in 1971–72, two points behind champions

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

; first in 1972–73 by a nine points margin; and first again in 1973–74 under

Keith Jobling Keith Jobling (26 March 1934 – 20 September 2020) was an English professional footballer born in Grimsby who made 450 appearances in the Football League as a centre half for Grimsby Town. Until overtaken by John McDermott in 2000, Jobling was ...

Colchester United

Froggatt transferred to

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club Colchester United in August 1974 for a £6,000 fee, joining former Boston strike partner

Bobby Svarc Robert Louis "Bobby" Svarc (born 8 February 1946) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Career Svarc, born in Leicester, England, began his career at Leicester City, making 13 appearances, scoring two goals befo ...

and former Boston manager Jim Smith at

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was only used for football matches and was the home ground of Colchester United before being replaced by the Colchester Community Stadium. The stadium held spectators and was ...

. He scored his first Football League goal on 24 August, in a 3–2 defeat by Blackburn Rovers at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

. He and Svarc continued their strike partnership, and Froggatt scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

past Grimsby Town on 15 November, whilst Svarc also scored a brace. He also found the net against

in a 2–1 defeat in the League Cup quarter-finals. He started every league game in 1974–75, scoring 18 goals in 54 games in all competitions; Svarc scored 25 to take their partnership to 43 goals for the season. Froggatt was voted as the club's Player of the Year. Svarc and Smith left the club in summer 1975, leaving Froggatt behind at Colchester. The club were relegated under rookie manager Bobby Roberts, and Froggatt scored just five goals from 44 games in 1975–76; this left new signings

Bobby Gough Robert George Gough (born 20 July 1949) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. In a fifteen-year professional career in the English Football League he scored 114 goals in 474 league appearances. After failing to make an impr ...

and

Colin Garwood Colin Arthur Garwood (born 29 June 1949 in Heacham, Norfolk) is an English former professional association football, footballer who scored 157 goals from 426 games in the Football League playing as a Forward (association football), striker for P ...

to pick up the slack. However Roberts led the "U's" to immediate promotion in 1976–77; Frogratt scored eight goals in 52 appearances, though again Garwood and Gough got the bulk of the goals. He spent time out of the first-team, though still added four goals in 34 games in 1977–78 to take his tally for Colchester to 35 goals in 184 games in league and cup competitions.

Later career

Froggatt was signed by

manager Bobby Smith for £10,000 in February 1978. Fifteen seconds into his Vale debut; a 4–0 win over Exeter City on 8 February 1978 at Vale Park, and he had scored his first goal for the club. Despite this, he tweaked his hamstring the following month and only scored two more goals in eleven further league games in 1977–78 as the "Valiants" were relegated into the basement division. He then lost his first-team place to

Ken Beamish Kenneth George Beamish (born 25 August 1947) is an English former Association football, football player, coach and manager. In his playing days he was a Forward (association football), forward, and he scored a total of 198 goals in 642 league a ...

and

Bernie Wright Bernard Peter Wright (born 17 September 1952), nicknamed Bernie the Bolt, is an English former footballer. A tough centre-forward, he scored 78 goals in 320 league games in a nine-year career in the Football League. A youth player at Birming ...

, and after three appearances under new manager

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968, before ending his playing career following a five-year spell at Rochdale. Later wor ...

in 1978–79, Froggatt was sold on to Northampton Town for £8,000 in September 1978. He scored three times for the struggling "Cobblers", including on his debut. He then returned to Boston United, where he was made assistant manager.

Style of play

Froggatt was a target-man

who boasted good pace and ball-control skills.

Managerial career

Frogatt was appointed manager at Alliance Premier League club Boston United in 1981. Under his stewardship, the "Pilgrims" finished tenth in 1981–82, fifth in 1982–83, and seventeenth in 1983–84. He went on to manage

Central Midlands League The Central Midlands Football League is an English football league covering the northeast-central part of England. Formed in 1971 as the South Derbyshire League, changing name initially to the Derbyshire League before changing to its current nam ...

side Ilkeston Town between September 1986 and January 1988.

Personal and later life

His wife gave birth to twins in 1985. He worked as company director.

Statistics

Honours

Individual *Colchester United F.C. Player of the Year:

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Boston United *

: 1972–73 & 1973–74 Colchester United *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

third-place promotion: 1976–77

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Froggatt, John 1945 births Living people People from Stanton Hill Footballers from Nottinghamshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Notts County F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Buxton F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Association football coaches English football managers Boston United F.C. managers Ilkeston Town F.C. managers National League (English football) managers